This invention generally relates to the field of medical devices. More particularly the present invention relates to hemodialysis machines having a graphical user interface.
It is known to provide dialysis to treat kidney failure. To this end, different methods of providing dialysis have been developed.
One type of dialysis is hemodialysis, which removes waste from a patient's blood. Hemodialysis is performed using machines that typically include an extracorporeal blood circuit. The blood circuit includes an arterial line, a blood pump, a dialyzer and a venous line. The patient is connected to the arterial and venous lines via a catheter inserted into the patient's vein or artery. The blood pump removes blood from the patient and pumps same through the arterial line to an inlet or blood side of the membrane in the dialyzer. The dialyzer typically includes a semipermeable membrane that separates waste components, such as toxins and excess water from the patient's blood.
A separate pump is provided that pumps dialysate through a dialysate side of the membrane of the dialyzer. The waste components flow from the blood across the membrane to the dialysate. A large amount of dialysate, for example about one hundred twenty liters, is used to dialyze the blood during a single hemodialysis therapy. The membrane is designed to prevent waste components from flowing from the dialysate back to the patient's blood. The blood pump returns the blood from the dialyzer to the patient via the venous line. The spent dialysate is then discarded. Hemodialysis treatment lasts several hours and is generally performed in a treatment center about three or four times per week.
Another type of dialysis is peritoneal dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis is preformed using a device that pumps dialysate into a patient's peritoneal cavity, which is infused through a catheter implanted in the cavity. The dialysate contacts the patient's peritoneal membrane in the peritoneal cavity. Waste, toxins and excess water pass from the patient's bloodstream through the peritoneal membrane and into the dialysate due to diffusion and osmosis, i.e., an osmotic gradient that occurs across the membrane. The spent dialysate drains from the patient's peritoneal cavity, removing the waste, toxins and excess water from the patient. This cycle is repeated.
Dialysis machines generally have controls that regulate the operation of the machine. Older machines used electromechanical buttons and switches to control valves, pump motors, etc., and mechanical gauges to display therapy parameters, such as temperature, pressure, flowrate, etc. These controls are labor intensive and prone, due to their mechanical nature, to inaccuracy and failure.
Newer dialysis machines have used a video monitor to display therapy parameters. Certain machines combine the video monitor with a touch screen so that the inputs and therapy displays are provided on a single display or graphical user interface (“GUI”). Some GUI's also incorporate mechanical or hard keys for redundancy or for simplicity. GUI's enable the patient, nurse or other operator to interact with the machine and adjust machine operation or treatment parameters, e.g., pump rates, dialysate and blood temperature, flow rate, pressure, etc.
Modem GUI's include a host microprocessor that controls the operation of the major components of the machine. When the patient or nurse wishes to change a treatment parameter, the person touches a symbol on the GUI corresponding to the parameter, wherein a menu, for example, is provided to scroll up or down or to key in a value. A verification step can be provided, wherein the patient or nurse confirms the parameter change.
Because the GUI is the focus of attention for a dialysis machine, its location, ease of use, reliability and durability are paramount to the success of the machine and to providing proper therapy. A constant struggle exists between providing multiple options to the user through software improvements and keeping the machine simple to use for both patients, caregivers, nurses and other persons.
One problem with displays both old and new is that they are visible and usable from only one position, typically the front of the machine. Devices have been provided that allow the displays to be rotated and moved in multiple directions. These systems are labor intensive and typically require loosening and fastening a locking mechanism to move the display. While this type of system is operable by a person with two hands free and positioned in front of the machine, a patient lying in a bed or a nurse with one hand busy may find adjusting a locking mechanism and articulating the display to be cumbersome.
A need therefore exists for an improved dialysis machine that enables the display to be easily moved and positioned.